Hello,
I’m having a hard time building the fuselage of my “Talon”
No matter what I do, it comes out bend, twisted and not straight.
This is not the first plane I build, but this talon kit is very frustrating.

Does anyone here have experience with this kit from dynaflite?

I've built a "few", two in the last month and depending on your exact problem there's different things to do.

The most serious is a twist and if you haven't put on the lower sides yet it's easy to fix and if you have put on all the sides the fix is the same just a little more force/ time is needed. Put the fuse on your bench with the tail hanging over the edge, put a weight like a sanding block on the top of the fuse to hold it down. Use a modeling clamp to clamp a piece of wood to the top where the stab glues on, use a piece of 1/4 square about a foot long and hang it out to the side. I use a piece of balsa on the fuse to prevent marring the fuse. Anyway then take a spray bottle and wet the fuse almost dripping wet. Hang a weight of some kind on the stick enough to twist it a little the other way and let dry overnight. When done it's straight.

If you have a bend to the fuse front to back there is almost no way to get it out and considering you build over the pre cut piece it's hard to get a bend in it.

Hope this helps...

They are great light lift sloppers, about the best I think there is, other than like a two meter thermal ship....

Not that kit but lots of general fuselage construction. It's all about jigging up the sides and working in order and not trying to force the wood. If things do not quite line up and you FORCE it to then it WILL twist. A lot of what follows is all about checking and doing the work one step at a time with lots of checking between and during glueing. You need time to work and check things so medium CA is no good. I suggest either thin CA that can be applied to a tight and correct joint without disturbing it or carpenter's yellow glue that will give you a few moments to recheck and realign things before it sets.

A few hints. Note that all these hints are aimed at lineing things up parallel or square and using only the minimum force to join the wood at the tail and nose. At NO time should you force things into alignment if they do not line up. There's a lot of typing in what follows but it's all about doing it one step at a time. Do not rush things. Do the checks and be sure you know what you're checking for. Try to visualize the geometry of what I'm describing.

First off do NOT try to build anything in mid air. You're just asking for problems. Do it over a board with a long center line or over the top view of the plans if there is one. Mark an accurate center line mark on all your formers so you can line them up with the center line on the building board.

Pin or clamp together your fuselage sides so they line up as well as they can and then sand out any differences so the edges are square and even. This is particularly important to do on the ends so the length of the sides is spot on identical. Being the same is much more important than matching the plans within a small amount. Do this sanding part with any doublers already glued on. Also make note of the wood. If one side is rock hard and not very flexible and the other is soft and bendy then you'll need to get some wood for at least one new side. The wood really should be quite close in it's ability to bend. Some kit makers just use whatever comes down the line while others are quite good at ensuring some quality. You can check this by lining the two sides up with them hanging mostly over the edge of the bench like a diving board. Hold down the other end and add identical little weights to the far ends. If they sag pretty close to the same amount then fine. If one bends more than a 1/2 inch per foot of overhang than the other then you need to make a new side for one of them.

Line up the formers on one side and glue one or two of the central formers into place on ONE side only. THIS IS IMPORTANT! I say one or two because it's based on the design and where the formers are placed and how much curvature the sides have. Do the former at the widest point. If there is another former that is the SAME width then you can glue that one as well. Use a little triangle to get them square to the sides.

Now you can pin down the sides over the center line or plan. Upside down or upright does not matter as long as there is a LONG flat portion of the shape you can use to put down onto the building board. Use the longest flat portion even if the fuselage sticks up as an angle. If there are curves all over the place or the flat portion is not very long or it's just easier to use the area where the formers are then use balsa strips to shim up the sides. The strips must run directly across the center line squarely so the sides will not sit skewed on them. Line up the center marks of the formers over the center line of the board and secure them with pins or some other method so they cannot move. Use your drawing triangle to make sure the side with the formers glued on is exactly vertical at the formers. Shim as needed to do this. Offer up the other side and pin in place, DO NOT GLUE YET. Draw together the tail by ONLY pulling the sides inward to the center line. If they do not match up for height then DO NOT FORCE THEM. That will twist the fuselage for sure. Instead go back to the middle and fudge the unglued side with small shims of paper or card stock until the tail joins up with only inwards pressure. Use drawing triangles a LOT to ensure the sides stay vertical especially as you join the side at the tail. When it all looks as perfect as you can make it THEN glue at the main formers. Use thin CA or carefully pry open the joint and add carpenter's yellow glue using a little thin stick to push the glue into the joint and then close it firmly and let dry. Note the tail is NOT glued yet. Just pushed together and lined up vertically with a triangle on one side and a clothespin to hold it.

After the two main formers are dry push in one of the tail formers to flair out the sides and force the tail joint to it's final angle. Recheck for squarness and center alignment. Use a clothes pin to hold the sides together but do not hold the tail in alignment with the plan. Just let it float free and check it in that state. If you force it at all it'll mess things up later. If it does not line up then slide the tail joint around a bit until it lines up with no force other than the clamp directly over the center line and with the sides vertical. Use the triangle to double check at least 10 times. Just hold it up very close without pushing it against the sides and sight it up. Vertical and directly over the line is what you want. If the sides do not line up properley in length or edge alignment do not worry about it. Later you can sand out the difference. When it looks good glue it. Dribble on thin CA or spread them and use carpenter's glue then reclamp and recheck. Remember, DO NOT force things vertically. Just pull the sides together and let them find their own alignment and slide the joint around a bit so it sits on it's own exactly where it needs to be. If you did it right and shimmed at the center it should be all good at this point. When dry glue in the tail formers and add the sheeting to the side that's facing up at you. Adding the sheeting will lock the tail to shape. This is why the other parts were so important. Once the main formers and the tail are joined you are building on a foundation. If the first few joints were done right the foundation will hold the model square and straight. If you mess up those first few joints you get a bananna in the end. So take your time on this.

Once the tail has dried do the nose. For this one though you will need to pull things together and line them up to the center mark on the nose former. But here again if the sides to not match up to the former without pulling vertically just ignore that error. Pulling or pushing things vertically WILL form a twist in teh fuselage. Just pull the side together smoothly and hold them against the former and line up the center mark on the center line. A rubber band or two works great for this. Use the triangle to make sure the sides are vertical on one side and let the other just find it's own place against the former. Here again let the sides float and check it to ensure it lines up happily then glue.

From there just add the rest of the sheeting. Just don't pull things around while you do. It should be as straight and square as a fine pool cue at this point.

thanks so much for all the info!
I took it all apart and will re-build following Matthews hints
If I get a twist i'll try Evan's fix.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer my question.

looks like we are gonna get some wind today
so I might just go play with my other planes

Hi, In the past I've seen the sheet wood for the fuse warp because of humidity while I'm building the wings etc. and the fuse. parts are sitting in the box being exposed to the air for a few days. This is especially true with kits made in different parts of the country or world where the humidity is vastly different than where you're at. (My funiture factory owner friend explained this to me) They almost always warp in the same direction resulting in a 'banana' curve to the fuse that's almost impossible to get squared. I've found though if you soak em' with rubbing alcohol or ammonia water mix and then weigh them down on a flat surface and letting dry before assembling the warp will come out, it might take a few 'treatments' to achive the desired outcome. Be sure they are really dry or the warp will return.
Rick.